At least 23 people have been killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack and in subsequent violence at a religious procession in north-west Pakistan. The explosion tore through a crowd of Shia Muslims marking the Ashura festival in the town of Hangu, sparking rioting among pilgrims. Pakistan has a history of tension between Shia and Sunni Muslims. Five people also died in Sunni-Shia fighting in Herat, western Afghanistan, on Thursday, doctors said. The explosion in Hangu, in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province, struck a bazaar as hundreds of people walked in a procession from the main Shia mosque in the town. The army has sent in troops and a curfew has been imposed. No-one has claimed responsibility for the attack. "We thought the bomb was detonated by remote control, but now it appears to be a suicide attack," local police chief Ayub Khan told the Associated Press news agency. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

The leader of Hezbollah, heading a march by hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims Thursday, said President Bush and his secretary of state should "shut up" after they accused Syria and Iran of fueling protests over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Denmark, meanwhile, said it had temporarily closed its diplomatic mission in Beirut, which was burned by protesters Sunday, and all staff had left Lebanon. Danes feared religious processions in Muslim countries Thursday to mark the Shiite festival of Ashoura would spill over into violence against its diplomats and soldiers after days of protests over the caricatures, which were first published in a Danish newspaper in September. About 2,000 hard-line Muslims also rallied and burned a Danish flag Thursday in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1598589&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

A dozen anti-war protesters who accused police of using excessive force to break up a raucous demonstration three years ago have settled with the city for nearly $400,000, lawyers said. Protesters said police fired wood bullets and bean-bag rounds at them without provocation and failed to allow them to disperse during the 2003 rally at the Port of Oakland. They said they were protesting the war in Iraq and targeted the port because at least one company there was handling war supplies. The City Council agreed this week to pay $393,000 to settle the remaining lawsuits. Lawyers for the protesters said the deal was reasonable. The settlement brings to $1.3 million the amount Oakland has agreed to paid to settle lawsuits related to the protest. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1598679

Palestinian prosecutors froze bank accounts and seized assets of dozens of suspects in a widening corruption probe of senior government officials believed to have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, the Palestinian attorney general said. The suspects have been barred from leaving the Palestinian areas and their names have been forwarded to officials at the Gaza-Egypt and West Bank-Jordan crossings, Attorney General Ahmed al-Meghani told The Associated Press late Wednesday in a telephone interview. Earlier this week, al-Meghani said his investigation concluded that Palestinian Authority officials may have stolen billions of dollars from the public coffers. Some of the cases involved companies with ties to the Palestinian Authority. Twenty-five suspects are in custody and at least six have fled to Arab countries, including four to Jordan, he said. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1598657

Strict security measures have been imposed in Iraq to prevent insurgent attacks during the major Shia religious festival of Ashura. Roads have been closed to vehicles and checkpoints set up in Baghdad and the holy city of Karbala in central Iraq. In 2004, 170 people were killed in co-ordinated attacks during Ashura. Despite the restrictions, millions of pilgrims have been taking part in ceremonies commemorating the martyrdom of the Imam Hussein. Falling on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Shia Muslims mark the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson at Karbala with mourning rituals and plays re-enacting the martyrdom. Men and women dress in black and parade through the streets slapping their chests and chanting. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4694574.stm

The internet giant Yahoo has been accused of providing China with information that led to the jailing of a second internet writer. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders claims that Yahoo released data which led to the arrest of Li Zhi. The online writer was jailed for eight years in 2003, after posting comments that criticised official corruption. Last year Yahoo was accused of giving information to Beijing which led to the imprisonment of reporter Shi Tao. Reporters Without Borders called on Yahoo to release the names of all internet writers whose identities it has revealed to the Chinese authorities. Yahoo spokeswoman Mary Osako insisted that in its dealings with China, the company "only responded with what we were legally compelled to provide, and nothing more". "We were rigorous in our procedures and made sure that only the required material was provided," she told the AFP news agency. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4695718.stm